The Alternative View...

I have to confess, I don't think I can recall a time I've felt this flat and uninspired about Charlton. It doesn't help that, thanks to waterlogged pitches and other than that forgettable night against Oxford at the Valley, I've not seen Charlton in action since the back end of last year. In that time the new owner has come in, had a chance to give us the instant shot in the arm we so desperately needed, but has failed to do so. I'm not naive enough to have expected instant miracles, but we as Charlton fans seemed to be in a never-ending cycle of waiting and hoping for even the smallest scrap of good news. It doesn't seem any closer but the dark clouds continue to gather.

 

Last nights demoralising defeat was sadly unsurprising. I couldn't bring myself to even follow it. I have nothing but admiration for those that headed up to Doncaster, especially as I shut out the disappointment by going to bed early. I'll be honest, I couldn't care a single bit about the FA Cup. We could make the final and I would trade it in a flash to stay up. Even the thought of returning to League One kills me inside. 

 

It simply cannot be right that our manager is out of contract in the summer, let alone the majority of his first team squad. What message does that send out? Who could blame any one of those players for not having the full focus required for a survival battle?

 

It's like asking a soldier to run from the trenches and put his life on the line without offering him the security and protection he deserves for his efforts.

 

But why do Charlton fans continue to flatter themselves and assume that no player ever wants to leave us? Take Yann, for example. The chap is 32 years old and will undoubtedly be thinking about maximising the financial return in his final few years and also what he will do after football. For all we know, he has been offered new terms but has turned them down because he can earn far more by moving on. Think Semedo. He kissed the badge, rolled up his sleeves and sweated blood for our team and we loved him because of it. He told us he wouldn't leave, he told us he loved us, and then pissed off to Sheffield. From London to Sheffield? You cannot convince me that money was not the motivator in that move.

 

I love Yann as much as the next man, but my gut feeling is he's off because he want to. Good luck to him. Thanks for the memories, big man.

 

Somehow, I suspect he's not alone. The idea that the players are rolling into Sparrows Lane every day hoping they'll be called in to the Gaffer's office and handed a biro and a new contract just doesn't sit well with me.

 

Never has a new start seemed more fitting on so many levels.   

 

At this point, all I can hope for is that somehow we manage to stay up. Alternatively, I will continue to hope that by the time you've read this piece it will look like an embarrassing moan about nothing as we will have signed countless top quality players and handed new deals to Powell et al.